- East Coast or California, USA [Remote]
- Full-time employee · 90,000-125,000 per year
Deadline: 10 December
About Foresight Institute
Foresight Institute is a San Francisco-based 501(c)(3), founded in 1986. It supports science and technology through grants, fellowships, and prizes. Its annual budget is about $6.5M.
The role
Foresight is scaling up its finance function in 2027. The plan covers a monthly close, GAAP-ready reporting, a stronger treasury setup for a portfolio that includes investments and cryptocurrency, and systems that connect gifts, grants, and the general ledger.
The Finance & Compliance Manager reports to the CFO and works with the Finance Admin Manager / Assistant Treasurer to build a stellar finance function, not only run it. Day to day, you will record transactions accurately, close the books on time, support treasury and cash management, keep filings and compliance on schedule, automate routine work, and document every process so someone else can step in.
What you’ll do
Gifts and payments
- Record and reconcile gifts across all payment routes. Issue IRS-compliant acknowledgments and give each gift a unique ID that links the CRM, receipt, and general ledger.
- Record crypto and stock gifts under Foresight’s valuation policy, and prepare Forms 8283 and 8282 for review.
- Record pledges and restricted gifts from signed gift agreements.
- Onboard vendors: collect W-9 or W-8 forms and verify bank details before the first payment.
- Prepare bill payments in Bill.com for approval within set limits.
- Reviews expenses and reimbursements in Ramp. Check that every expense has a receipt, coding, and an approver.
Accounting and close
- Keep the books in QuickBooks Online: coding, classes, accruals, and prepaid expenses.
- Prepare journal entries for review by the Finance Admin Manager and approval by the CFO.
- Run the month-end close checklist with the Finance Admin Manager and CFO, with a target of 10 business days.
- Apply the functional expense allocation across program, management, and fundraising.
- Support payroll: check PEO and EOR invoices, book payroll to the general ledger, and reconcile benefits.
- Reconcile all bank, investment, and balance sheet accounts monthly, with support.
Funds and grants
- Keep the restricted funds register: agreements, balances, and releases.
- Keep a monthly fund roll for each program: opening balance, allocations, spend, and closing balance.
- Keep the grants payable register: each award, its payment schedule, and grantee reporting dates.
- Reconcile grants payable to the general ledger monthly.
Treasury and cash support
- Record each investment rebalancing trade made by the Finance Admin Manager, and reconcile it to custodian statements.
- Pull month-end balances for all bank and investment accounts.
- Update the weekly 12-week cash sheet for CFO review.
- Work with banks and custodians as a view-only user, so recording stays separate from approving and moving funds.
Audit, compliance, and documentation
- Prepare schedules for the annual audit and Form 990.
- Keep the federal and state filing calendar, and track each deadline through to filing.
- Screen donors, crypto wallets, grantees, and vendors against sanctions lists.
- Prepare year-end 1099s, and 1042-S forms where needed.
- Update the quarterly public support test with actuals.
- Find repetitive tasks and automate them with tools such as Ramp, QuickBooks integrations, and AI, keeping human review on key controls.
- Write and maintain procedures for every core task, and train a backup for each one.
- Keep compliance records and audit evidence filed in one place.
Build and automate:
- Map recurring tasks and automate the highest-volume ones first.
- Connect systems like Ramp, Google Drive, QuickBooks Online, and the CRM so data moves without re-keying.
- Initiate and build out smooth processes, e.g use AI to draft reconciliations and flag anomalies, with human review on every control.
What you’ll bring
- 5-8 years in bookkeeping or accounting, ideally at a US nonprofit.
- Working knowledge of nonprofit GAAP: net asset classes, donor restrictions, pledges, and gift acknowledgment rules.
- Interest in compliance work: filing deadlines, sanctions screening, and IRS rules for gifts and payments.
- Hands-on QuickBooks Online experience.
- A tech-forward approach: you enjoy learning new tools and want to automate the work, not just do it.
- You have automated finance work before. Tell us what you built and what it saved.
- You treat every manual step as a problem to remove.
- Experience in fast growing organizations and logically approach to process building, including automation
- Accuracy, follow-through, and comfort working with a team spread across time zones.
- A degree in accounting or finance, or equivalent experience
Nice to have
- Experience with, or interest in, cryptocurrency gifts and digital assets.
- Experience in any of these systems: Quick Books Online, Deel, Ramp, Bloomerang, or another donor CRM
- Experience in programming and interest in prompt engineering.
- Experience supporting an audit.
What we offer
- Health: Medical, dental, vision, life insurance, and long-term disability, fully paid for you and your dependents
- 401(k): Up to 3.5% match
- Time off: Unlimited PTO
Foresight Institute is an equal opportunity employer.